I went with my son's Venture Crew to dive Venice with Florida West Scuba Schools. I have to say Capt Steve Thacker runs an outstanding operation. I'll definitely dive with him again.
We went on a two tank afternoon dive just south of Venice Beach. We went just south of where the dredges are digging up the sand to replenish the beach. The vis on the first dive was OK... 10-15'. The water was HOT!! The minimum my compter registered was 89.6F. Most of the time, my computer was displaying 91F. We came up with a bunch of stuff. One guy stubled on to two huge megs... I found a small tooth, some manatee bones, and a prehistoric snake vertebra. Jack found a ton of small teeth. This place was great.
Our second dive was a little further south. This place had a lot of muck. I only found one tooth, but it was a small meg... so, that made the entire trip worth it.
Now... I need to talk about Capt Steve Thacker. I was thoroughly impressed with his operation. The tanks came with the cost of the dive, so the tanks were already loaded on the boat. When we got to the dive site, Capt Steve gave us a great briefing on the fossils and how to find them. Then he pointed us in the right direction and we headed out for our 90 minute dive. Yes! 90 minutes. And yes... I used all 90 minutes. When we got back on the boat, the first thing we were greated with was a shower from the hose. That felt great. Then, the crew set our next tank up for us. I almost felt like I was in Costa Rica again. After a 30 or so minute SI... he sent us out for our second 90 minute dive... and yes.. I was the last one to get back on the boat...
I'm looking forward to my next trip with Capt Steve.
Al
We went on a two tank afternoon dive just south of Venice Beach. We went just south of where the dredges are digging up the sand to replenish the beach. The vis on the first dive was OK... 10-15'. The water was HOT!! The minimum my compter registered was 89.6F. Most of the time, my computer was displaying 91F. We came up with a bunch of stuff. One guy stubled on to two huge megs... I found a small tooth, some manatee bones, and a prehistoric snake vertebra. Jack found a ton of small teeth. This place was great.
Our second dive was a little further south. This place had a lot of muck. I only found one tooth, but it was a small meg... so, that made the entire trip worth it.
Now... I need to talk about Capt Steve Thacker. I was thoroughly impressed with his operation. The tanks came with the cost of the dive, so the tanks were already loaded on the boat. When we got to the dive site, Capt Steve gave us a great briefing on the fossils and how to find them. Then he pointed us in the right direction and we headed out for our 90 minute dive. Yes! 90 minutes. And yes... I used all 90 minutes. When we got back on the boat, the first thing we were greated with was a shower from the hose. That felt great. Then, the crew set our next tank up for us. I almost felt like I was in Costa Rica again. After a 30 or so minute SI... he sent us out for our second 90 minute dive... and yes.. I was the last one to get back on the boat...
I'm looking forward to my next trip with Capt Steve.
Al
